World Meteorological Organization
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 189 Member States and Territories. It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was founded in 1873. Established in 1950, WMO became the specialised agency of the United Nations for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences. It has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland and is a member of theUnited Nations Development Group. The current president is David Grimes and the current Secretary-General is Michel Jarraud. The Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It is the UN system's authoritative voice on the state and behavior of the Earth's atmosphere, its interaction with the oceans, the climate it produces and the resulting distribution of water resources. WMO has a membership of 189 member states and territories (since 4 December 2009). The Convention of the World Meteorological Organization was signed 11 October 1947 and established upon ratification in 1950. WMO became the specialized agency of the United Nations in 1951 for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences. It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was founded in 1873. The WMO hierarchy: *The World Meteorological Congress determines the policy of WMO and meets every four years. Each Member country is represented by a Permanent Representative with WMO. The Permanent Representative should be the director of the National Meteorological or Hydrometeorological Service. *The Executive Council implements Congress decisions and meets once a year. *Six regional associations for addressing regional concerns: **Region I Africa **Region II Asia **Region III South America **Region IV North America, Central America and the Caribbean **Region V South-West Pacific **Region VI Europe **(Antarctica is outside the regions) *Eight technical commissions provide technical recommendations for WMO and the national services. *The secretariat headed by the Secretary-General coordinates the activities of WMO with a regular staff of some 250 employees. Activities As weather, climate and the water cycle know no national boundaries, international cooperation at a global scale is essential for the development of meteorology and operational hydrology as well as to reap the benefits from their application. WMO provides the framework for such international cooperation. Since its establishment, WMO has played a unique and powerful role in contributing to the safety and welfare of humanity. Under WMO leadership and within the framework of WMO programs, National Meteorological and Hydrological Services contribute substantially to the protection of life and property against natural disasters, to safeguarding the environment and to enhancing the economic and social well-being of all sectors of society in areas such as food security, water resources and transport. The WMO and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) jointly created the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It is also directly responsible for the creation of the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW). The IPCC has received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change." WMO promotes cooperation in the establishment of networks for making meteorological, climatological, hydrological and geophysical observations, as well as the exchange, processing and standardization of related data, and assists technology transfer, training and research. It also fosters collaboration between the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services of its Members and furthers the application of meteorology to public weather services, agriculture, aviation, shipping, the environment, water issues and the mitigation of the impacts of natural disasters. WMO facilitates the free and unrestricted exchange of data and information, products and services in real- or near-real time on matters relating to safety and security of society, economic welfare and the protection of the environment. It contributes to policy formulation in these areas at national and international levels. In the specific case of weather-, climate and water-related hazards, which account for nearly 90% of all natural disasters, WMO's programs provide vital information for the advance warnings that save lives and reduce damage to property and the environment. WMO also contributes to reducing the impacts of human-induced disasters, such as those associated with chemical and nuclear accidents, forest fire and volcanic ash. Studies have shown that, apart from the incalculable benefit to human well-being, every dollar invested in meteorological and hydrological services produces an economic return many times greater, often ten times or more. WMO plays a leading role in international efforts to monitor and protect the environment through its programs. In collaboration with other UN agencies and the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, WMO supports the implementation of a number of environmental conventions and is instrumental in providing advice and assessments to governments on related matters. These activities contribute towards ensuring the sustainable development and well-being of nations. WMO publishes the International Cloud Atlas, the international standard cloud atlas since 1896. 'Meteorological codes ' In keeping with its mandate to promote the standardization of meteorological observations, the WMO maintains numerous code forms for the representation and exchange of meteorological, oceanographical, and hydrological data. The traditional code forms, such as SYNOP, CLIMAT and TEMP, are character-based and their coding is position-based. Newer WMO code forms are designed for portability, extensibility and universality. These are BUFR, CREX, and, for gridded geo-positioned data, GRIB. World Meteorological Day World Meteorological Day is held annually on March 23. Awards and prizes *International Meteorological Organization Prize *Vilho Vaisala Award *Norbert Gerbier-Mumm International Award *WMO Research Award for Young Scientists WMO conference on climate prediction and information for decision-making World Climate Conference-3 (WCC-3) was held from 31 August to 4 September 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland, under the auspices of WMO. Its goal was to address advancements in seasonal to multi-decadal climate predictions and to spur their applications to decision-making in socio-economic sectors, including food, water, energy, health, tourism and development sectors. The Conference aimed to contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and broader UN climate goals through support for climate adaptation. Membership As of 2009 member states of the organization are 181 of the UN members, Cook Islands and Niue. Additionally there are 6 member territories. The non-member states are Andorra, Grenada, Equatorial Guinea, Liechtenstein, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Tuvalu, Vatican City and the states with limited recognition. The member territories are: the British Caribbean Territories (joint meteorological organization and membership), French Polynesia, Hong Kong, Macau, Netherlands Antilles and Aruba (joint meteorological service and membership), New Caledonia.